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Reading.

Monday, July 1, 2013

I love to read. And even so, it's easy to make the excuse that I just don't have the time for it.

But you know when you were a kid and you'd tell your mom you were hungry and ask for candy, and she'd say "If you were really hungry, you'd eat this piece of fruit"? I feel like that with reading. If I really don't have time, then I also don't have time to skim Facebook or a thousand blogs. So I'm pretty sure I just don't make time nearly enough.

Sometimes it takes one good book to set you on a trail of reading a lot more. For me, recently, that book was Unbroken
by Laura Hillenbrand. I may have already mentioned it here, but Louis Zamperini's story is incredible and I couldn't get enough. Even after reading 500 pages, I was sad when the story ended.

Another fantastic book I just finished was Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes
by Shauna Niequist. I devoured it in less than a week, fitting it in during nursing sessions and late at night. I hadn't read anything of Shauna's before, and I think this was the perfect book to start with. It's a love letter to food and the dinner table, and her appreciation for good food and hospitality is inspiring. There are recipes at the end of every couple chapters, and we've tried at least 7 or 8 of them just in the last week. They've all been hits! Bacon-wrapped dates, magical white bean soup, chicken enchiladas, blueberry crisp... I could go on. Her words and her recipes are equally delicious.

So to celebrate reading, I've added a new tab up in the top right corner: reading. I've compiled a list of some of my all-time favorite books, ones that I'd happily read over and over again. It's definitely a list in progress - I'll be adding to it over time - but if you'd like to add to the list, feel free to comment under the list of books. I'd love to hear what you're reading and loving.

Funny, I just planned a trip to the library tomorrow. Thanks for inspiring! Usually itis just the fact that I don't have any new books around that makes that I don't read. It only takes one good first chapter and I'm gone.. then every other task in the house seems not important anymore ..

I've been thinking that I should be making more time for reading myself. In school I hated reading! (Maybe because it was for homework and not for leisure?) But now as an adult, I love getting lost in the pages, and I'm sad when books end too. I think add the extra tab is a great idea :) Going to check it out now!

I just read Bread & Wine on our 10th anniversary trip thanks to my sweet friend bringing it with from the US. I really liked her perspective on feeding friends with allergies and viewing it as an act of service. And I love her perspective on community by that comes through in all her books. I highly recommend Bittersweet too. Didn't love Cold Tangerines as much, probably b/c it's written pre-miscarriages and not as raw.